Monday, February 10, 2014

HID Lighting Basics - Why HID Is Better Than Incandescent Lighting

When man invents new things that make his life better, we know he is only headed for a brighter future. The invention of high intensity discharge or HID lighting is an example that shows just how far he has come from the time incandescent or fluorescent bulbs were created. For home or business use, HID lights have proven to be far more efficient than any other type of lighting invented in history. This is why more and more people are making the shift as they hear from users about the advantages of this invention. From homes to night clubs to industrial plants to automobiles, HID lights are now most preferred and used by an increasing number of people.
So what makes HID technology deserve all of these raves from consumers? There are a number of things, but its most important advantage is cost and energy efficiency. To see just how energy-efficient HID bulbs are, you need to understand how they and incandescent bulbs function. To get an incandescent bulb to work, electric energy has to be supplied to a tungsten filament inside the bulb so that it is heated enough to glow and provide illumination. In other words, an incandescent light bulb runs basically on the electrical energy that is supplied to the tungsten filament. With continuous use, however, the filament burns out and that's the end of the incandescent bulb's lifespan.
On the other hand, HID technology does not need a filament for the bulb to glow and provide light because the bulbs' gases emit photons which are responsible for the light that is given off. HID lights are energy efficient because they do not actually run on electricity but rather on the photons emitted by these gases. Electricity will only serve to excite the gas inside the bulb to produce the light. But to keep the light shining, the gases' molecules are in-charge. HID bulbs don't have filaments that burn out, like incandescent bulbs do. This means, HID lasts way longer and burns much brighter. Combining all of these, one can expect a significant reduction in electrical consumption, and significant savings on electricity bills.
Among HID bulbs, there are three choices for the consumer - mercury vapor, metal halide and high-pressure sodium. The most efficient of these three is high-pressure sodium, which gives more of a yellowish light, followed by metal halide, whose emission closely resembles natural light and then mercury vapor which is the least efficient among the three.

No comments: